Determinism and destiny

[alecpomoni]

I'm interested to know about the interrelationship of determinism in the Universe and destiny in human life as seen by the physicians

[subversion]

I'm interested to know about the interrelationship of determinism in the Universe and destiny in human life as seen by the physicians

Well I'm no physician, nor am I a physicist per se (I assume that's what you meant). However, the question you ask has found my curiosity too. While this essay I recently wrote does not provide the answer specifically, I hope you might find it of interest.

Masters of Fate

Of all the universal questions that can be asked, lately one has held my imagination. What is the nature of destiny?

As we proceed through time, the random throws of nature catch us at every angle, off guard, in transit. This natural chaos takes our life paths and mutates them, like a chimp seized by evolution, that never wanted to become human. But maybe the chimp was supposed to become human? “Better to see it like this” I say with assurance to all ex-chimps, “for our one defense mechanism against the random tragedy of fate, is to realize that it is not this at all.”

Is it fanciful? Matter of factual? Even proveable to assume that the way things turn out is the way they’re supposed to? I mean, do individuals like you or I truly have a destiny? Do ants? Do plants, do trees? Does the universe itself have a destiny? These questions are the ones I am curious to answer.

Let us start with a maxim, everything is interconnected (hence the prefix uni in the term universe). Therefore, if you had a destiny, it would likely be a part of someone else’s destiny. So help me Aphrodite, the romance of such a possibility is almost too much to bear. Odder still, such mutual destinies would give rise to collective destinies. Would it be that mankind itself has a destiny (yes extinction counts), of which yours is an integral factor (you will die won’t you)? Likewise, might the destiny of mankind play an important role in the universe (preferably a living one)?

Another way to see this interconnectedness is that the universe’s fate simply predetermines ours. In such a belief was born the ancient and still present idea that our destinies are encoded in the stars. While astrology, as it is called, is often dismissed as pseudo-science by the popular community, I beg for an unbiased appraisal while maintaining necessary skepticism. Perhaps astrology as practiced might not be quite as foretelling as its proponents would have you, but I’m not entirely opposed to the idea that a cosmological order has a way of trickling down into our daily decisions.

That is the story of why I want to study cosmology. Cosmology, for all intents and purposes, is the study of the origin of the universe, but it is also the story of destiny. It has held a place in our hearts and curiosity since we first gazed up at the stars and wondered, “what created the universe, and what is our purpose in it?” It shows us how the random throws of nature are in fact the agents of a divine order. In cosmology, everything makes sense. The origin of the universe is intrinsically linked with its fate, much as our destinies, should we have them, are given to us at birth.

So where did the universe come from, and perhaps more important, where is it going to? To know one is to infer the other. It is thought by scientists that as the universe accelerates, we will be able to see further back in time, so that at the universe’s death bed, we will see its conception. Soon all will be revealed to us. I can’t wait that long.

A so called Theory of Everything could elucidate matters sooner for us. It could also allow us to understand the universal principles of reality and thus be masters of fate and masters of the cosmos. We could control time and space, matter and energy, travel to distant regions, other dimensions, and harness unequivocal power. It sounds far-fetched, but a man once said that god has two plans for us. Either he wants us to die, or he wants us to live forever. The destiny may be for us to choose. I think it is in our best interests to gain immortal status. Ironically, we are destined to become Gods, if we can but answer the one riddle that cosmology poses.

[alecpomoni]

Thank you for your brilliant essay.

I don't think I could wish for more. It echoes what I have been reading lately in Alexander of Aphrodisia's 'Treatise of destiny' where he expounds Aristotle's theory of freedom, destiny, the possible, character, interrelationship (or concatenation) of events and human actions.
I would like to have a bibliography of works combining modern physics (or cosmology) and Buddhism.
Thanks again
Alec Pomoni

[force5]

IMHO;

Predeterminism rules the day. I don't like this conclusion. We are simply a product of our enviorment just as everything else is.

1. We can not change the past.
2. We can not change the future, since we can not change something that has not happened yet.
3. We can not change the present, since it represents a constant transition of future to past events.

[alecpomoni]

Thank you for your brilliant essay.

I don't think I could wish for more. It echoes what I have been reading lately in Alexander of Aphrodisia's 'Treatise of destiny' where he expounds Aristotle's theory of freedom, destiny, the possible, character, interrelationship (or concatenation) of events and human actions.
I would like to have a bibliography of works combining modern physics (or cosmology) and Buddhism.
Thanks again
Alec Pomoni

Thank you Force 5

Could we posibly say that past-present-futrure is only a perception of something and not this something?

[subversion]

IMHO;

Predeterminism rules the day. I don't like this conclusion. We are simply a product of our enviorment just as everything else is.

1. We can not change the past.
2. We can not change the future, since we can not change something that has not happened yet.
3. We can not change the present, since it represents a constant transition of future to past events.

I don't think I quite understand you. First you say you don't believe in predeterminism, then you say we can't change the future. Doesn't that imply that the future is predetermined since we cannot effect it?

[force5]

By stating that "Predeterminism rules the day" implies that I am convinced that everything is predetermined.

Since we exist, we will be involved in actions in the future that determine the outcome of events, but does not "change" it.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[michellemfry]

It would be more correct to talk of part of life being deterministic. The inheritance of a unique physical body is at once a collection of cells and a highly ordered complex system. Life can be an experiment with expected results to follow. We expect a certain outcome. Our bahavior betrays this. You can call youself libertarian, but that doesn't make you free. You are free to quit breathing, or so you think. You are free to ignore that Hottie that just walked by, or so you think. We're all doomed to enjoy this.

[michellemfry]

Sorry about the last post. I think I believe in free will. I'm struggling with this one.

[Mr. Nobody]

It is thought by scientists that as the universe accelerates, we will be able to see further back in time

I thought it is the other way around. If expansion accelerates past c, then we will see less and less of the universe, since it moves away faster than the light can reach us